St. Louis Celebrates Its Historic Fashion Scene And New Football Club

The Saint Louis Fashion Funds marked its milestone 10th anniversary with its annual fashion show the past Sunday, February 18, 2023. “Runway at CITYPARK” celebrated the budding fashion scene and economy historically intrinsic to St. Louis. Encapsulated by the MLS team, St. Louis City Soccer Club [Football Club], and its new stadium, designers and their garments came together under the 2-year-old football club’s roof. The “Show Me” state of St. Louis is not new to the sartorial world, always having an appetite for fashion.

St. Louis has produced notable fashion figures, like fashion editor Derrick Blasberg and supermodel Karlie Kloss, who grew up in the town. It also has birthed talent in entertainment, including the Bravo Network’s Andy Cohen. Rapper Nelly also hails from the city, whose fashion sense lived in pairs of Air Force 1s, St. Louis team jerseys, and grills – gold teeth with diamonds set in. Now, with the new St. Louis City SC team and arena, there is a focus on building the fashion economy of St. Louis back to its essence.

The Collective Thread is one of those institutions in the heart of St. Louis, fostering fashion talent for the future of industry and economy. Located in the Washington Avenue Garment District in the downtown area, littered with buildings from its past shoemaking era of the city, the nonprofit organization in St. Louis leverages advanced technology to support companies requiring sewing manufacturing, product development, and high-tech cutting services.

Their mission is to provide exceptional service while empowering workers with fair wages. This initiative has fostered the growth of the fashion industry in St. Louis. The Collective Thread offers free sewing classes at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Primarily, they target women to fulfill their empowerment mission, especially with incoming immigrants from asylum programs in the Middle East and other global regions. Additionally, the organization provides small-batch sewing production focusing on quality and outstanding customer service. They also offer product development services, assisting clients in bringing their design ideas to life, from concept to manufacture-ready products.

Furthermore, the organization boasts state-of-the-art cutting equipment to handle cutting work of any quantity. Through these initiatives, they aim to support the local fashion industry while providing valuable training opportunities and empowering individuals in the community.

Cherokee Street serves as the city’s fashion hub, boasting multiple vintage shops, tailors, custom clothing designers, and retail birthing localized streetwear and street style culture. Restyled by Izzy is one of those many vintage shops known for its curated vintage finds, from dresses to jackets and jewelry to home goods. Founded by Izzy Polanco, Restyled by Izzy is a vintage shop that prioritizes sustainable and ethical fashion practices as a customer-centric boutique, offering personalized styling recommendations for dressing up for a special occasion or curating their everyday wardrobe.

Cherokee Street is also home to the studio for the Brandin Vaughn Collection. Specializing in prom and wedding attire for men and women, while upcycling fabrics and garments, Vaughn creates custom clothing for any occasion. Vaughn has recently launched the Westgate Collection, a streetwear capsule consisting of hoodies, bucket hats, tees, and sweatpants, inspired by the city home to the “The Arch,” also known as the “Gateway to the West.”

Vaughn’s work has been recognized and celebrated in St. Louis, prompting an opportunity to produce custom looks for Beyoncé during her St. Louis stop on her Renaissance Tour. Vaughn was then brought back to design outfits for the Vegas leg of the tour to follow.

Profield Reserve is another unique retailer located on Cherokee Street, producing its streetwear collection for everyday and casual looks. Founded by Christopher Loss in Saint Louis, Missouri, in the Spring of 2020, Profield Reserve specializes in premium, durable everyday staple items. Their curated pieces and capsule collections have an athletic appeal, sporty design, and boast lifestyle. Made in small batches and either finished in-house or with the help of local resources, Profeild Reserve also extends its services to local streetwear designers.

The St. Louis City football club hosted the “Runway at CITYPARK” and had involvement from the runway show’s producer Dwight Carter, the founder of the Gent organization, local model agencies Mother Model and MP3 agency, and players from the club who featured collections for the runway. In its two years of existence, St Louis City embarks into merchandising, fostering a sense of identity and tribalism among fans and players. Chief Brand Officer Lee Broughton has reflected on its inaugural season, plans for future collaborations, and the intersection of sports and fashion in building a brand and fanbase.

“What I’ve been responsible for is [the] involvement in the design of the district, design of the stadium with the architects, and then built the marketing brand. All the logos, the crest, the colors,” Broughton delves into. “And the uniform as well!”

“This weekend is the is the launch of the Confluence kit, which is our second away kit. We’ve taken a lot of intentionality about trying to ensure that everything that we’re doing really comes back to the elements of what makes St. Louis such a great place to live and get behind the people here. So the confluence is the reason that St. Louis is unmatched.”

“Geographically, the coming together – the Missouri and the Mississippi – two of the biggest rivers in America. That’s why St. Louis was back in the indigenous era. It was one of the biggest cities in the world. There were times in the 1st century when it was like 1000 a 20,000-strong group in Cahokia [in IL. bordering MO. river], the native people. More recently, it’s been a trade route. The gateway to the west.”

“We really love the idea of anchoring the rivers as part of our kit. That’s all done through my team. The lines if you were to look at how the confluence works on the map elevation, you can see that it has sort of this concentric circularity to it. That was part of the inspiration when we saw this as an opportunity with Adidas.”

“The great thing about this is that kind of adds to this idea that we have – no one jersey the same. The algorithm that makes this circularity here on the kit is unique to every top. That gave us a real interest to pursue the idea of what makes St. Louis.”

The football club unveiled its new kit design the Confluence has come in tandem with the football club’s reach to bring in a broader audience with merchandise. A partnership with Lusso, a women-owned sports licensing apparel producer, has branded fan-inspired garments for the St. Louis City’s women’s fanbase.

The “Runway at CITYPARK” showcase had an eclectic mix of designers, ranging from established names to emerging talents, each contributing their unique flair to the runway. Brands involved included the show opener Lukas Roe, a celebrated local design talent, as well as Rocket Supernova, The Normal Brand, a collaborative collection from City players Sam Adeniran and his brand VAPS, and Aziel Jackson and his brand First Move, Ying Ying Ying, accessories provided by Tufts and Batson, and Stuart Trevor, cofounder of ALLSAINTS and the U.S. runway debut of his new sustainable fashion line Bolongaro Trevor’s.

Sam Adeniran, forward for St. Louis City, has been playing the beautiful sport his whole life and has traveled globally for it. He has often been heralded for his tunnel walk looks, displaying VAPS range of streetwear and suiting, along with pieces reflecting his Nigerian heritage.

Adeniran shares his passion for creating a family-owned brand, “It’s my oldest brother’s name is Victor, my second oldest brother whose name is Ayo, my sister Pelumi, and then me, [Samuel]. The initials of VAPS in order of age from oldest to youngest.”

He explains, “We have branches, VAPS formal [for] suiting – English or European style suits for weddings. Then we have VAPS Dynasty Clothing, the main brand, and then that’s the Nigerian wear. We call it kaftan or abada.”

London-based designer Stuart Trevor speaks on his involvement with the Saint Louis Fashion Fund, “I’m here primarily just to spread the word about sustainable fashion. We [also] did Pitt Uomo in Florence, where we were invited out by the organizers to show our mission. And our mission is to make buying sustainable fashion easier and more fun.”

Trevor continues, “We take vintage pieces, and we customize them by printing them, embroidering them, patching them up, sewing on buttons, or we hand paint them. We have artists that we work with, and so we wanted to spread that message.”

“I’ve got a lot of vintage military pieces and we don’t want everyone thinking that we love war, but we like the quality and the style of vintage pieces. The quality of military clothing from the ’50s, the ’60s, and ’70s is incredible.”

Embedded in the fabric of St. Louis is a rich history of fashion and soccer, dating back centuries. From its prominence in garment manufacturing during the 18th and 19th centuries to its moniker as “Shoe Street, USA” for its abundance of shoe manufacturers. St. Louis also holds the title of “America’s First Soccer Capital,” hosting the nation’s only national professional soccer league in 1907. This connection to fashion and soccer underscores the St. Louis city’s diverse cultural heritage and the ongoing commitment to innovation and creativity.

Exploring St. Louis’ Fashion legacy is now a thriving entrepreneurial spirit and full of creative talent that defines St. Louis’ fashion scene. Notably, the strong presence of women and designers of color underscores the city’s commitment to diversity and inclusion within the fashion industry.